An archive photo
MINSK, 27 November (BelTA) – The film “Time Chose Us” on the Belarus 1 TV channel shows footage of the first meeting of Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko and Russian President Boris Yeltsin in 1995, BelTA reports.
On 21 February 1995, the first President of Belarus Aleksandr Lukashenko met his counterpart, the first President of Russia Boris Yeltsin, at Minsk National Airport. It was clear from the tone of this meeting that Belarus and Russia intended to move forward together in the future.
First of all, the two leaders laid wreaths at the Victory Monument in Minsk and talked to veterans. They also toured Minsk Automobile Plant. Things were not going well for the plant after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
On 21 February 1995, the first President of Belarus Aleksandr Lukashenko met his counterpart, the first President of Russia Boris Yeltsin, at Minsk National Airport. It was clear from the tone of this meeting that Belarus and Russia intended to move forward together in the future.
First of all, the two leaders laid wreaths at the Victory Monument in Minsk and talked to veterans. They also toured Minsk Automobile Plant. Things were not going well for the plant after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
At the plant, Boris Yeltsin climbed into the cabin of a MAZ truck. “Boris Nikolayevich, we have just decided to give you the truck and the keys,” said Aleksandr Lukashenko.
On this February day, Boris Yeltsin addressed the Belarusian intellectuals at the Academy of Sciences. But the main event of the day was the negotiations at the highest level. They ended with the signing of the Treaty of Friendship, Good-Neighborliness and Cooperation between the countries. Later, many would call this document the beginning of integration. The Union State would emerge a few years later.
"For Yeltsin, Lukashenko was a new phenomenon. Firstly, he was 23 years younger, a new generation. Secondly, he was not a party apparatchik. Yeltsin himself, like the leaders of other CIS countries, was a former party secretary," First Assistant to the Belarusian President (1995-1998) Ural Latypov said.
"Yeltsin wanted to figure out the young man, who single-handedly, without a party, without support, won the election in a medium-sized European country. He wanted to understand how to deal with him, what to expect from him."
"For Yeltsin, Lukashenko was a new phenomenon. Firstly, he was 23 years younger, a new generation. Secondly, he was not a party apparatchik. Yeltsin himself, like the leaders of other CIS countries, was a former party secretary," First Assistant to the Belarusian President (1995-1998) Ural Latypov said.
"Yeltsin wanted to figure out the young man, who single-handedly, without a party, without support, won the election in a medium-sized European country. He wanted to understand how to deal with him, what to expect from him."
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